Coca Leaves
Trip Start
Nov 08, 2009
1
4
14
Trip End
Dec 22, 2009
Where I stayed
Cusco, Peru
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
After touching down in the high altitude city of Cusco, Rachel said it was hard for her to breathe - I know, I know - after all of these years, I still take her breath away. I still got it!
We were taken to our hostel which was very nice and had a rustic modern feel to it which made it a cool spot to be. Its proceeds went 100% to crippled or abandoned children so Rachel and I spent money there on items that we could've gotten cheaper elsewhere. Really cool mission that the hostel carried out and the nicest people over there.
After we got settled in, we decided to walk to the town center for lunch. The walk alone was nice as we would walk through the neighborhoods and see how the Cusqueno's lived which looked like they had a better life and economic base than the other Peruvian cities we visited. When we got into the town center we were mesmerized as it had a quaint feel with a lush, floral courtyard that was surrounded by old world buildings, elaborate churches, and historically significant buildings. Reminded us of a Peruvian version of a Colorado mountain town. The courtyard was pretty elaborate with its intricate and inviting vegetation and floral accents and where we saw a clown entertaining on a unicycle and lightposts that Don would even appreciate which were fantastic looking with the area showing little trash, no graffiti or thousands of stickers or posters cluttering the place which is much different than what you'll see in the town centers of Mexico.
We made our way through the courtyard to have lunch on a rooftop terrace which had gorgeous panoramic views of the below courtyard and the rest of the town and into the sun-soaked mountains that enveloped the town. The food was good and we had a local beer called Cusquena and I made the horrible mistake of having a scotch. Almost immediately after I had the drinks I had a throbbing headache - Rachel blamed it on the altitude I blamed it on the alcohol!
Talking about controlled substances - we were also introduced to Mate de Coca which is a tea made out of coca plants and served everywhere. Apparently, it doesn't have the hallucination effect of the real stuff but after I had it I definitely saw a monkey flying next to the Wicked Witch of the East and a pink unicorn that swept me away to NeverNever Land although those thoughts happen even when I don't drink Mate de Coca tea so I don't know if there's a correlation but I'll keep on drinking it and blame it on the tea.
After lunch, we saw that there were massage parlors everywhere and even cheaper than the Thai massages we had when in Thailand. $12 for both of us for an hour! We were lucky enough to get a couple's massage with Melissa and Joan Rivers who wouldn't stop talking the whole time. If you thought American women were bad you need to meet a Latina and probably even taking it further a Peruvian latina as I'm sure there has to be a category in the Guinness Book of World Records of longest yapping without taking a breath designated for Peruvian women - maybe that high altitude allows them to talk for so long without having to breathe. I actually went to get a massage to alleviate my alcohol/altitude-induced headache but it probably was exacerbated by our massage "therapists" mundane discussions on what their husbands like for dinner or the best cleaner to use for washing clothes.
After that we strolled around the town which really felt like a Chiang Mai of Peru with eclectic restaurants, bars, music, and backpackers galore. Ultimately, we settled on dinner at a spot that had candle-lit tables and Rachel wanted to eat there for no other reason than that. The people were super nice. I ended up ordering what looked like a grilled rat which they call Cuy or as we know it a guinea pig. Yes, I'm off to a good start 2 days in again on this trip with my culinary appreciation for traditional dishes no matter how weird or gag reflexing they may be. I specifically asked for them to prepare it the traditional way which is dishing it whole although they normally prepare it tourist-palately correct by just dishing pre-cut pieces of the meat. No - me bring the tail, head, and all. Rodent for dinner.....mmmmm! Truth be told, it was one of the most flavorful meats I've ever had and Rachel had a bite and concurred. These type of experiences never cease to amaze me.
Back at the hostel, I was still feeling awful from the beer/scotch combo from lunch earlier almost like a vicious hangover. Maybe it was the Incan gods punishing me for violating the first rule of alcohol consumption in their land - liquor before beer nothing to fear and beer before liquor never been sicker. Words to live by.
